Sunday, October 21, 2006
SUNDAY: THE RACE
Brief race report. Finished in 12 hours 13 minutes. LOOOONG swim;
current, wind, other complained of "chop" but I didn't notice it.
Bike:as advertised - there was a headwind BOTH coming and going between
Kawaihae and the top of the hill before the airport. Coolest part was
flying by the men's leaders at (their) miles 23. Chris McCormack,
though 3+ minutes behind Nromann Stadler, was clearly running very
strong, while Normann looked - choppy, Macca just ran out of real
estate, gaining about 2 minutes in the last 3 miles, and 12 over all
with fast run split of day @ 2:46. His 8:13 was a winning time most
years, but - Stadler set a race record with a 4:18 bike split. My
bike time was OK - about 6:18. Just as I'd anticipated, when I was
coming around on Kuikini in the first half mile of the run, I got my
picture taken about 100 times, as NORMANN was running me down on his
way to victory. Then, just as I made the turn left onto Ali'i, Chris
McCormack comes running up to me to turn right for home. Watching the
race like this from my bird's eye view was clearly fun, and charged me
up. My first two miles on the run were under 9 minutes (I averaged 10
minutes a mile overall), file:///Users/Al/and
my last 24 miles on the bike I averaged 19.6, with 17.75 overall.
My BIGGEST fear for this race was that I would blow up and finish in
13:30 or something. But in the event, I got a marathon PR by a few
seconds for an Ironman. My previous best was over 5 years ago on a
perfectly flat course in 61F overcast/foggy conditions along the coast
at IM California in Oceanside - a far different environment than here.
But three things were similar. I arrived at the race venue 12 days in
advance, compared to 2 weeks here. I stayed at my sister's house; here,
I had my own home away from home. I did the race in my Adidas Cubato
racing flats. And I "loafed" the bike in 6:06, 20 minutes slower than
the other 2 IMs I did 2000-2002. Here, I made a great effort (until the
last 17 miles or so) to rein in my bike, concentrating on keeping my
heart rate low, my fluid and calorie intake up. My primary concern in
this race was to have a respectable run, and to beat my overall time
from Wisconsin, where I qualified. The weather in Madison was equally
hot and humid, with a hilly, windy bike.
The weather today was remarkable for several things. Temperatures were
nominal, averaging 87 (91 max on the lava) in the day and 82 after 6
PM. The swim was in a brisk wind, with increased currents. The sky was
mainly overcast, which helped reduced radiational heating, but
increased the humidity. And, just after I finished, there was a deluge,
a gully washer, a rain of biblical proportions. A half hour after me,
people were running down Ali'i 600 meters from the finish in SHIN DEEP
water (pictures soon). I took a shower just by standing out for a
few minutes before getting my medal. While walking thru the transition
area, I swear I felt wetter than I did during the swim.
Final star vignette: at the aid station coming out of the energy lab, I
started looking for my usual chicken broth and/or coke (I'd
switched over from Gatorade by this point). A volunteer very
insistently yelled "Water" over and over at me, and I finally looked at
him. Peter Reid. He looked me right in the eye, and said, "Water!". Of
course I took it, and said, with as much sincerity and warmth as I
could muster, "Thank you very much, Peter!" I mean, the guy just
retired after winning here 3 times, and more IM wins than any other
male. And he decided he wanted to give back to this race by coming out
and volunteering at an aid station - this was the one he wanted, as it
comes at a time when you need a boost the most. What a guy.
Overall, I was satisfied with my result, and, more important, with my
performance and focus during the race. Of course, I was thrilled just
to be here, but I think I also represented myself well at what, for me
at least, is the toughest Ironman course and conditions I've ever
encountered. How the pros can go as fast as they do is beyond me, e.g.,
Chris McCormack has 3 8 hour IM results to his credit in the last few
years, and goes 8:13 here. So I feel pretty good about a time which is
only 16 minutes slower than my most recent Coeur d' Alene result, and
32 minutes off my PR. AND, which include a marathon PR for me. IM IS
all about the run, unless you're Normann Stadler, I guess.
More to follow soon, with pictures taken by my family of the leaders,
the rain, and me.